Chitinase is an extracellular enzyme complex that degrades chitin and has a molecular mass of approximately 30 kDa. Chitin is degraded to N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in 2 enzymatic reactions. Firstly, chitobiose units are removed from chitin by chitodextrinase-chitinase. The second reaction involves N-acetyl-glucosaminidase-chitobiase, which cleaves the disaccharide to its monomer subunits (that comprise of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine).
Chitinase from Streptomyces griseus has been used to study the effect of the allosamidin on the regulatory system for chitinase production. It has also been used to study the enrichment of chitinolytic microorganisms. This enrichment was achieved by the isolation and characterization of a chitinase with antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi. The enzyme from Creative Enzymes has been used as a standard for chitinase assays using the enzyme derived from Absidia glauca and Petunia hybrida extracts.
